Car brand pronunciation

Iwannahurl

On Top Gear recently Jeremy Clarkson referred to a car called a "Dayssia". He was arguing about the Dacia brand with James May at the time.

A few years ago I heard someone in England say they thought there was a van called a Toyota "Hee-atchee".

Then there's all those Irish radio and TV ads for a car brand known as "High-un-dye", made in Korea.

We also have Pew-joes and Aw-deez.

Another other interesting pronunciations out there?

Duke O Smiley

Renault = "Ren-o"

Peugeot = "Per-jo"

No other way is correct

Dacia = "Dat-cha" btw

CiniO

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Renault = "Ren-o"

Peugeot = "Per-jo"

No other way is correct

Dacia = "Dat-cha" btw

Why?

Duke O Smiley

CiniO wrote: »

Why?

Do you speak French?

CiniO

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Do you speak French?

Not really (know few words) why?

quadrifoglio verde

Alfa Romero....what the ****, just call it an Alfa and dont bother spelling it

Duke O Smiley

CiniO wrote: »

Not really (know few words) why?

If you did you would understand that that is how your pronounce both names

I hear "Ren-alt" a lot in Ireland and the Uk

moleyv

Vauxhall: pronounced O pel

ambro25

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Renault = "Ren-o"

Peugeot = "Per-jo"

No other way is correct

Beg to differ, somewhat.

Renault = Re-no, with the 'e' pronounced deep, a bitlike the sound of the 'u' in the word 'fur'.

Peugeot = Pe-jo, with the 'e' pronounced just as above.

That's how French people pronounce these French brands. FYI. And yes, I am French.

Spook_ie

My pronnunciation of all three would be ****ebox

CiniO

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

If you did you would understand that that is how your pronounce both names

I hear "Ren-alt" a lot in Ireland and the Uk

Well, yes I know how to pronounce Renault, Peugeot and Citroen in French.
I also know how to pronounce Dacia in Romanian.
I know as well how to pronounce Skoda in Czech, I know how to pronounce Audi, BMW, Opel, Mercedes and Volkswagen in German.

But it doesn't mean the only correct way of pronouncing those names are in those languages.

We live in English speaking country, so let us pronounce all those names in English.
I'm originally Polish and I know how to pronounce them all in Polish (and believe me it's significantly different than in English or original language of each make).
But I can't see anything wrong, with everyone pronouncing those names in their own language. That's the way it should be.

Duke O Smiley

ambro25 wrote: »

Beg to differ, somewhat.

Renault = Re-no, with the 'e' pronounced deep, a bitlike the sound of the 'u' in the word 'fur'.

Peugeot = Pe-jo, with the 'e' pronounced just as above.

That's how French people pronounce these French brands. FYI. And yes, I am French.

Yeah, I getcha, my phonetics are way off but I know how they're properly pronounced. I have a friend who is French and he's a complete Renault pedo

Youngblood.III

Here this is the right way...
Audi....Arsehole
BMW....Bell-end
Passat... Knacker
:-)

Duke O Smiley

Youngblood.III wrote: »

Here this is the right way...
Audi....Arsehole
BMW....Bell-end
Passat... Knacker
:-)

What do you drive?

Please, tell us

CiniO

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

What do you drive?

Please, tell us

Possibly "Dat-cha"

H3llR4iser

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Renault = "Ren-o"

Peugeot = "Per-jo"

No other way is correct

Dacia = "Dat-cha" btw

Peugeout sound some like "Pe-jo" in French, which is of course the way to pronounce it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrvIcYEhoAY

When I first moved to Ireland and heard people talking about "Pew-jeot"s, I had no idea what they meant

Also, "Audi" should sound more like "Awde":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH0XpGsY25M&list=PLhpOsm0_wDXmO6a6ZjJaXxX_KPpbblS4v

And BMW is not "Bee Emm Double U", but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wjvV34UIuI&spfreload=1

Hold and behold, Mercedes is actually "Merzedes"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB5CKXoqJLY&index=5&list=PLhpOsm0_wDXmO6a6ZjJaXxX_KPpbblS4v

Italian names are slightly different as well; Ferrari for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3vJglKI1jI

The Top Gear guys tend to get Alfa Romeo quite right - the actual pronunciation is only slightly more "closed" than the one they use; Couldn't find a linguistic example, but you can hear it at the end of this ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9z4HAgEcDE

And I am fairly sure all Europeans get some of the Japanese/Korean brands quite wrong

ambro25

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Yeah, I getcha, my phonetics are way off but I know how they're properly pronounced.

I have a friend who is French and he's a complete Renault pedo

I take it he's not into cars much, then? :pac:

The only French car I'd ever consider is a big Citroen [Sitro-ehnn ]. Something like a C5 2.7 Exclusive. And I gave it a miss -again- the last time around, sooo...

Renegade Mechanic

Volkswagen is pronounced pretty much as it's spelled by everyone. Though in German, its pronounced "Vulksvagen".

Now, the strage thing is, Ive known a lot of the older, rural generations (mid 40s +) to pronounce it quite closely as "Vulkswagen".

Outside of them though, the "o" is what's pronounced.

Spook_ie

ambro25 wrote: »

I take it he's not into cars much, then? :pac:

The only French car I'd ever consider is a big Citroen [Sitro-ehnn ]. Something like a C5 2.7 Exclusive. And I gave it a miss -again- the last time around, sooo...

I always thought Citroen cars were lemons

challengemaster

CiniO wrote: »

Possibly "Dat-cha"

Dat-cha load of shíte on wheels. :pac:

CiniO

challengemaster wrote: »

Dat-cha load of shíte on wheels. :pac:

BTW if someone really want's to pronounce it in Romanian, it should be rather "Dat-chia".

However IMO pointless to pronounce names in their original language, while we can pronounce them in Engligh.

colm_mcm

Indeed, we don't pronounce toyota the way they do it Japan so no point in getting too worried about it.

Oafley Jones

colm_mcm wrote: »

Indeed, we don't pronounce toyota the way they do it Japan so no point in getting too worried about it.

We're not too far off though. We tend to "sing" Japanese words, whereas they're pronounced extremely flat and almost clipped without the highs and lows we put in. Same with Korean brands. Sounds weird on telly but the yanks are far better than us with our "high un die". Still theres nothing wrong with the way we pronounce things. If you started talking about that 1980s movie the "car ah tae kid" you'd look like a wanker.

*Kol*

Actually I spoke to a Korean guy about cars and he pronounced high un die.

debabyjesus

say at
vuhl vo
datch e ah
Mitsu bee she
hi un day
sooz uh key

goz83

Oafley Jones wrote: »

We're not too far off though. We tend to "sing" Japanese words, whereas they're pronounced extremely flat and almost clipped without the highs and lows we put in. Same with Korean brands. Sounds weird on telly but the yanks are far better than us with our "high un die". Still theres nothing wrong with the way we pronounce things. If you started talking about that 1980s movie the "car ah tae kid" you'd look like a wanker.

WTF!!!

















Oh, you mean "carrot tea kid"

greenflash

Should be musaydees and not merseedays as the vast majority here say. Even the bloke doing the Mercedes ads on the radio get it wrong.

chrissy_W

In Italian, Lancia is pronounced LAN-cha but in English it is often pronounced lan-SEE-a. I come from an Italian background and Italian is my second language but when speaking English I pronounce it like the latter because it flows better. And the same goes for speaking in Italian, it flows better pronounced like the former.

toastedpickles

I've two Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolags so

:pac:

CiniO

chrissy_W wrote: »

In Italian, Lancia is pronounced LAN-cha but in English it is often pronounced lan-SEE-a. I come from an Italian background and Italian is my second language but when speaking English I pronounce it like the latter because it flows better. And the same goes for speaking in Italian, it flows better pronounced like the former.

Agree...
That's what I wrote above.
No point in artificially trying to fit foreign pronounciation because of origin of the word.
Let's all pronounce those names in language we are speaking.

Oafley Jones

*Kol* wrote: »

Actually I spoke to a Korean guy about cars and he pronounced high un die.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0UovyM8Ni0

Pov06

People think I'm weird when I say "Shkoda" :mad:

Oafley Jones

goz83 wrote: »

WTF!!!

Oh, you mean "carrot tea kid"

Tea is exactly what I'm talking about where we "sing" Japanese words, it's a high pitch instead of the flat "tae"

Irish Stones

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Alfa Romero....what the ****, just call it an Alfa and dont bother spelling it

Actually it's Alfa Romeo

For my holiday in your country, about two years ago, the man at the counter of the rental car company was going to give me a FIAT Sedici (pronounced Say-dee-see).
It took me a couple of minutes to make out that name that we pronounce something like "Seh-dee-tchee", it means "sixteen" that is the result of "4x4".
By the way, I rejected the car and asked for another brand

For Forks Sake

Pov06 wrote: »

People think I'm weird when I say "Shkoda" :mad:

You are clearly from Roscommon, there's a superfluous 'h' thrown into every word down there.

JBokeh

NEEE-SAWN, Them and Robin Reliant. Makes me irrationally angry when I hear them said

galwaytt

Irish Stones wrote: »

Actually it's Alfa Romeo

For my holiday in your country, about two years ago, the man at the counter of the rental car company was going to give me a FIAT Sedici (pronounced Say-dee-see).
It took me a couple of minutes to make out that name that we pronounce something like "Seh-dee-tchee", it means "sixteen" that is the result of "4x4".
By the way, I rejected the car and asked for another brand

Admit it: you really wanted, but couldn't pronounce, the Fiat Sedici, Sedicivalvole version and so just took a bloody 'Ford' :pac: :pac: :pac:

Irish Stones

galwaytt wrote: »

Admit it: you really wanted, but couldn't pronounce, the Fiat Sedici, Sedicivalvole version and so just took a bloody 'Ford' :pac: :pac: :pac:

I couldn't drive a FIAT car in your country, I would have been so ashamed that I should have driven with a mask on my face
They gave a Peugeot 308 instead, I was happy with it!

ShaunieVW

galwaytt wrote: »

Admit it: you really wanted, but couldn't pronounce, the Fiat Sedici, Sedicivalvole version and so just took a bloody 'Ford' :pac: :pac: :pac:

A friend had a fiat tipo sedicivalvole, was pretty rare but he being of itialian descent loved it, he wasn't impressed when I suggested they just put a 16v badge on instead of writing that the full with of the boot!

Iwannahurl

CiniO wrote: »

Well, yes I know how to pronounce Renault, Peugeot and Citroen in French.
I also know how to pronounce Dacia in Romanian.
I know as well how to pronounce Skoda in Czech, I know how to pronounce Audi, BMW, Opel, Mercedes and Volkswagen in German.

But it doesn't mean the only correct way of pronouncing those names are in those languages.

We live in English speaking country, so let us pronounce all those names in English.

I'd forgotten about Škoda, which you'd think would be a cinch in this country where so many of us shpeak funny.

There's no formal English pronunciation -- it's just the way we do it. So for some people it's an Owdi, whereas others say it's an Awdi.

Hee-atchee is taking the p|ss though.

challengemaster wrote: »

Dat-cha load of shíte on wheels. :pac:

It was two discussions about Dacia that got me thinking about the pronunciation. The first was Top Gear's "Dayssia" and the second was banter about someone who had bought a Dacia Duster, much to the amusement of his colleagues. He was described as being "mechanically illiterate" by someone who had spent time in Romania and knew how to pronounce the name of the car but wouldn't drive one if you paid him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx6vkaHlbA4

Pov06 wrote: »

People think I'm weird when I say "Shkoda" :mad:

There you go. Even if the pronunciation is daft ("Hee-atchee" for example) if it happens to be the local lingo you kind of have to go along with it because the original will sound weird to the locals.

.

Renegade Mechanic

Could be worse. "Pajero" is supposedly Spanish for wanker and why you now only get Mitsubishi "Monteros" (Mountain Warriors) in Spanish/Portuguese speaking economies..

ironclaw

Renegade Mechanic wrote: »

Could be worse. "Pajero" is supposedly Spanish for wanker and why you now only get Mitsubishi "Monteros" (Mountain Warriors) in Spanish/Portuguese speaking economies..

Its the most offensive word in Spanish I'm lead to believe. Its closer to calling someone a 'punt' but with a C

I pronounce Nissan as 'Niss-ann' but in America it's 'Knee-sann' Was quite confused when someone was asking about my 'Knee-sann GT-R'

black & white

A relative in England bought a new small Ford and when I asked what the "Ka" was like, corrected me and said it was pronounced a "Kay Ay"

coylemj

CiniO wrote: »

We live in English speaking country, so let us pronounce all those names in English.

CiniO wrote: »

However IMO pointless to pronounce names in their original language, while we can pronounce them in Engligh.

CiniO wrote: »

Agree...
That's what I wrote above.
No point in artificially trying to fit foreign pronounciation because of origin of the word.
Let's all pronounce those names in language we are speaking.

Cinio, how can you pronounce a foreign word 'in English'?

Who decides the correct 'English' pronunciation?

In the US, Hyundai is pronounced 'HUN-di' whereas over here it's 'HAY-un-di' so it's even pronounced differently by the official advertising in different territories. As far as I can see there is no correct or incorrect way to pronounce a brand name in a foreign language, in this case English.

guerito

ironclaw wrote: »

Its the most offensive word in Spanish I'm lead to believe. Its closer to calling someone a 'punt' but with a C

I pronounce Nissan as 'Niss-ann' but in America it's 'Knee-sann' Was quite confused when someone was asking about my 'Knee-sann GT-R'

You hear this a lot, but "pajero" wouldn't be used by a Spanish speaker. It is very close to "paja" which means "****", and the "-ero" suffix is equivalent to "-er" in English, but the two aren't put together. Spanish is pretty inflexible that way.

On the plus side, we do pronounce "Seat" the same as the Spanish do. :pac:

"Hijo de puta" is far and away the worst Spanish insult, by the way...

franer1970

Even Clarkson gets Nissan "wrong" - he always says "Nissen", as in Nissen Hut.
Can't we just go back to Datsun?

CiniO

coylemj wrote: »

Cinio, how can you pronounce a foreign word 'in English'?

Who decides the correct 'English' pronunciation?

Of course you can pronounce foreign words in your language. That's one of the ways language evolves.
And it's people who speak the language who decide about correct pronounciation. Once word becomes popular it usually even ends up in dictionaries.

I know it doesn't happen that often in English language, as most modern technology and names origin from English, but believe me it happens a lot in other languages

Renegade Mechanic

franer1970 wrote: »

Even Clarkson gets Nissan "wrong" - he always says "Nissen", as in Nissen Hut.
Can't we just go back to Datsun?

We are Er, kind of. Nissan are running the Datsun name as an entry level vehicle in the way their partner, Renault, have done with Dacia.

Of course the Datsun revival is more important, symbolically.

coylemj

CiniO wrote: »

Of course you can pronounce foreign words in your language. That's one of the ways language evolves.
And it's people who speak the language who decide about correct pronounciation. Once word becomes popular it usually even ends up in dictionaries.

You didn't answer my question - who decides the 'correct' way to pronounce a foreign word when speaking it in an English conversation?

You say it's 'people' who decide, what's that supposed to mean? My answer is 'nobody', you can pronounce it any way you choose to.

If Hyundai can't be bothered with a uniform pronunciation for their brand in English-speaking markets, what right do you or anybody else have to dictate to me how I pronounce it?

*Kol*

Oafley Jones wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0UovyM8Ni0

Thanks. I think I will leave him off, as he is a customer of mine I would rather not insult him by correcting him over a pronunciation of his own language.

challengemaster

franer1970 wrote: »

Even Clarkson gets Nissan "wrong" - he always says "Nissen", as in Nissen Hut.
Can't we just go back to Datsun?

You'd be fecked if you go to the US. NEE-SAWN.